Skip navigation and search
Open in Microsoft Edge
Job vacancies Job vacancies
About Us / History

Automobiles

The New York Times reported in the summer of 1904 on a commission dispatched by the Danish government in Europe to investigate the usefulness of the automobile for short postal transports. 

The commission found that the best way to achieve the goal of rapid delivery was with the help of automobiles. The commission also stipulated specific, stringent requirements for any cars to be purchased and tested in postal service. The newspaper expressed its hope that these would be American cars. The outcome of the commission’s journey is lost to history – what is known is that post was delivered by car in Copenhagen in 1908.

First test in Stockholm 1903

The Post Office in Stockholm first tested an automobile – a 6 horsepower car manufactured in Eskilstuna that travelled 15 km/h – in 1903. This experiment had no real successors. In 1905, local Swedish entrepreneurs started delivering mail by car on a trial basis. The postmaster was enthusiastic about the great amount of time that was saved, but his joy was short-lived. Weather, wind and the bad roads of the day presented obstacles for the advance of the automobile. It wasn’t made easier by a 1907 law stipulating that cars may not travel faster than 25 km/h during daylight hours and 10 km/h in the dark – rendering automobiles little faster than horse-drawn vehicles.

And in Gothenburg 1911

Automobiles (a truck and a delivery van) were first purchased for use by the Swedish Post Office in Gothenburg in 1911. Various types of automobiles were tested: in 1910, a number of electric automobiles were used in Copenhagen to deliver mail. Electric cars were also tested in Stockholm but were considered too heavy due to their batteries and did not have a large enough range.

Despite its somewhat slow start, the car as we know it took over an increasing amount of postal traffic. In 1921 the Swedish Post Office reported that cars were used on 96 routes; by 1925 this number had risen to 540.

Today’s mail-vans are energy-efficient, and drivers are trained in fuel-efficient, safe driving techniques.

The first electric car trial in Stockholm, in 1911.

 

More about our history

Post farmers and mail carriers

Christian IV’s “Forordning om Post-Budde” (Mail Carrier Decree) was enacted in December 1624. Twelve years later the Swedish council of state approved the ”Förordning om Postbådhen” (Mail Carrier Ordinance). This was the beginning of formal postal services in both countries.

Cross border

Sweden established a permanent post office in Hamburg in 1620. Dutchman Leonard van Sorgen was assigned the task of arranging postal service from Sweden to Hamburg.

Railways

The Danish postal service was quick to exploit the innovation of sending post by train. The first Danish railway line between Altona and Kiel opened in 1844.

By water

Initially, the many islands comprising the country of Denmark made it difficult to establish a reliable postal service to all areas. 

Automobiles

The New York Times reported in the summer of 1904 on a commission dispatched by the Danish government in Europe to investigate the usefulness of the automobile for short postal transports.

By air

Sending mail by air is not particularly modern – the ancient Egyptians used carrier pigeons. The bird of peace was used for postal transport through the Second World War. 

New times

In this era of globalization, there is a growing need for cross-border communication and logistics. Regions rather than countries are important to doing business.